The instant invention is in the field of treatments for disease and more specifically, the instant invention is in the field of the treatment of diseases of the brain such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease, and many others. Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time. As the disease advances, symptoms can include: problems with language, disorientation, mood swings, loss of motivation, and behavioral issues. Gradually body functions are loss, ultimately leading to death. No cure, only slowing the loss of function, is seen, even when using the very best available medication. Damage to the brain progresses in spite of the use of the best currently known medications and procedures. Beta-amyloid accumulation as plaque deposits in the brain has usually been blamed for progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Parkinson's is another neurodegenerative disease that can cause slowness in movement, tremors at rest, rigidity, flexed posture, and freezing. It also can cause depression, fatigue, hypotension, constipation, sleep problems, and dementia. It is widely accepted that the presence of a protein called alpha-synuclein is responsible for deposits in the brain associated with the progression of Parkinson's disease.
Huntington's disease is also a neurodegenerative disease, but one that requires a genetic predisposition. It effects about 7 per 100,000 people of Western descent. There is no known method of stopping the disease as it progresses from a general lack of coordination and an unsteady gate to jerky body movements along with a decline in mental abilities. In final stages full-time care is required. The disease appears to result from misfolded fragments of the huntingtin (Htt) protein that form aggregates (inclusions). These accumulating inclusions are believed to be responsible for the progression of the disease.
It appears that many neurodegenerative diseases have the accumulation of “inclusions” in the brain. These inclusions are formed from an evolving failure of the body to dispose of common molecular “waste” products. Up to an advanced age the body's natural protective system is capable of recognizing and disposing of these products. It doesn't seem to matter rather it is the beta-amyloid of Alzheimer's or the alpha-synuclein of Parkinson's, or the Htt protein of Huntington's disease. All of these diseases seem related to a gradual inactivation of the body's natural protective system. This inactivation appears mostly to be of the brain's microglial cells.
Exposure of the brain to ionizing radiation as a possible treatment for Alzheimer's disease is known, see for example US Patent Application Publication 2013/0323166, wherein the total dose administered to the patient ranged from 500 mGy to 18,000 mGy with a daily dose ranging from 500 mGy to 6,0000 mGy. Although this approach removes beta-Amyloid plaque it does not produce recovery of cognizant or physical ability.